As we waited for the venue to fill up another elf strode up to us. With his foxlike eyes that tilted up at the corner and flame-colored hair styled with badass bardic braids, he radiated handsomeness, but he was still nowhere near as attractive as Lore. After my partner taught me a little about robes and Elven color theory, I started to look more at the clothes of those around me, and this guy’s color combo was turquoise and black, with turquoise being the main color. He even had turquoise gems floating above his hair like intricate vines that curled in just the right places to enhance his features.

Lore stood, taking my arm and having me stand with him. We both bowed in greeting. “Bard Braid Blackotter, it’s a pleasure and a surprise to see you once again.”

Braid bowed, but not as deeply as Lore had. “Bard Lorevinel Silvercat. It’s good to see you here as well. As for me, well, I was cajoled and offered a magic item to be here.”

I once again plastered myself to Lore’s side and peered up at this new guy even as he ignored me. He wasn’t unfriendly towards Lore, but he wasn’t exactly friendly. What was his story?

“Of course, with your level, even the Crimsondahlia clan would have to do that much to get your attention. What is your current level, by the way?”

He grinned and winked. “You’ll find out soon enough. Anyway, I’m greeting the competition while we wait for everyone so I’ll be on my way.”

Lore nodded and Braid left, confidence exuding from each step. We both sat back down.

“Who is he?”

“The highest level bard in the area. He may or may not be moving to a higher level area soon, but you never can tell. Sometimes players get to a level, then just stop leveling because they find something else to do, or they give up on their quests because they’re too hard.”

Shortly after Braid left, another elf sauntered up to us, wearing black as her main color and violet for her accent. When she stood before us, she looked down at Lore with unconcealed disdain. Lore and I once again stood up and bowed, this time, not as low as we had for Braid. When I glanced at Lore I noticed him smiling, just not with his eyes.

She did not return the bow, just raised a haughty brow at us.

Now, who was this asshole?

“Prisoner Lorevinel Silvercat.”

“Bard Gwendas Ravenborn.”

“Do me a favor. Don’t fail. I want to defeat you myself.”

This time Lore did smile. “The same… That is if you can. Bard Blackotter is here. Yes, that Blackotter.”

Gwendas flinched and spun around. When she spotted Braid she cursed and quickly sauntered in the opposite direction.

I grinned at Lore. “Just who the hell is he?”

“Someone you don’t fuck with at lower levels.”

“Does that mean you’re going to lose this poetry competition?”

“Not necessarily. While he does have a higher actual level, my non-combat skills are comparatively much higher. We did arrive in the simulation at the same time, and even though he didn’t spend as much time in the sim, he isn’t level restricted by a collar. So I spent more time on non-combat skills than he did. But levels are still important, and my level 4 cannot compare to his 14 or 15.”

I nodded. “Should we keep standing? Are there going to be more competitors showing up and staking out the competition?”

As if summoned, another two women, one with brown hair and the other with gold, excitedly shuffled up to us. Both wore red for their main color and orange for their accent colors.

Lore and I bowed once again, then they returned our bow at the same level but faster. At least these girls were polite if a little energetic.

“Pirata and Irisal Redhen! It’s a pleasure to see you again.”

“Master Bard Lore!” They practically yelled but just barely kept their voices to a decent decibel level.

Lore sent them a blindingly beautiful grin. Was it just me, or did he look like a Korean pop idle smiling to his fans?

Fortunately, they did not squeal, but they did look a little dazed.

“My sister Pirata and I will be competing against you today. Please go easy on us,” the woman with the gold hair said.

“What level are you currently, Irisal?”

“I just reached level 13.”

Lore raised a brow at her. “You’ve worked hard.”

She blushed and nodded.

Pirata, practically bursting from excitement said, “I just reached level 7 and I’ve only been playing in the sim for a year in real-time!”

Lore raised his eyebrows at her. “Impressive!”

It seemed that the girl remembered that Lore was stuck at level 4 because she blushed and murmured. “But my bardic skills are not too high.”

“They’re high enough to let you participate in this poetry contest.”

“Maybe. I think I was more invited to make up the numbers and because my sister was already going.”

Irisal pulled on her sister’s sleeve. “It’s almost time for them to serve dinner. Let’s go.”

They nodded to us and scurried away.

Lore looked down at me. “You can loosen your grip a little. I’m not going anywhere.”

I looked down at my hands that were tightly holding his arm. What? Did I do that unconsciously?

As I loosened my grip I felt my cheeks burn. “I guess I’m pretty strong even when reduced to level 2.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re a close combat class,” he said as if my strength were obvious.

Just as we sat down a man dressed in crimson stepped onto the stage and smiled at the crowd. “Greetings everyone! And welcome to the bonded celebration of Davis Crimsondahlia and Ernawen Blackmare.”

There was applause all around. Wait! Was this guy, like, one of those MCs (Master of Ceremonies)? Elves had them too?

The MC gave a lengthy introduction about the two that I didn’t pay much attention to and the couple came up onto the stage and said a few words about how they found each other in the sim a few months before and immediately knew that they were bonded. They wanted to announce it right away but it took a while for both clans to accept the situation and then a few more months of planning before they could hold the celebration.

The two looked at each other with so much love it was disgusting. When I glanced at Lore he looked back at me and we both had the same expression on our faces, that of someone trying not to throw up from being fed so much of another’s love.

Mia: There is nothing wrong with being single, right? It’s a good state to be in.

Lorevinel Silvercat: Exactly.

Mia: Sometimes you just want to watch people’s happiness burn.

Lore had gone back to watching the show, but the corners of his lips turned up.

Lorevinel Silvercat: Want me to tell Davis you said that?

Mia: Want to die? Because I’ll bring you down with me.

Eventually, the too-sweet love stories and the stories from other people about the couple ended.

The MC stood in the middle of the stage and grinned. “Now it’s time for the traditional goodwill meal. Each dish was created to represent a flower that expressed the happiness and fortune of the couple in an attempt to share it with others.”

Waiters brought out a pink and red appetizer shaped like a rose with pointed petals instead of rounded.

“This first dish is called, ‘Eternal Love,’ and will give the charisma modifier of everyone here a small buff. In hopes that you all will also find your soul bonded and be given the blessing of eternal love.”

Two mirrored dishes were placed in front of Lore and myself.

Shocked by its realistic appearance — even if it was a bit alien — I couldn’t help but message Lore.

Mia: This is edible right?

Lorevinel Silvercat: Yes. But I need it more than you so, feed your dish to me.

Mia: What, I don’t even get a taste?

Lorevinel Silvercat: The Charisma buff doesn’t last that long but, at least for this particular dish, if I eat two the time will extend to twice the duration. And since I’ll be participating in the poetry contest I need the buff more than you.

I sent him a skeptical look but still scooped up a spoonful and fed it to him. His lips touched my fork and pulled it away. This was a bit more intimate than I had imagined. If I actually liked Lore that way, then I could see this getting addictive. No. Absolutely not.

I really wanted to try this edible rose.

Lorevinel Silvercat: It doesn’t taste as good as you think.

Mia: But it’s something new I haven’t tried yet.

Lorevinel Silvercat: I’ll let you have the last bite of mine.

Since he said that I’d at least get a bite I continued to feed mine to him. Then I pulled his over to me and continued to do the same. Since the dish was so small it went very fast.

When it was the last bite, he picked it up with his spoon and brought it toward my lips. I leaned forward only to watch it do a 180 and wind up in Lore’s mouth.

Then he laughed. The asshole laughed at me!

I glared back.

Mia: You better get one of these for me in the future.

Lorevinel Silvercat: Sure.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“It looks like most people are done with this dish so we’ll bring over the next. This one’s title is, ‘Success,’ and it is to hope that everyone here will be successful in life, even if you don’t find your destined soul bonded. This dish will increase your hit rate. Although the buff will be gone by the time you leave this celebration.”

Waiters brought out dishes that appeared similar to greenish garlic bread topped with cheese and basil. On the side of the plate, various small cups sat with tempting sauces.

I almost felt like putting my arm around my dish so Lore couldn’t steal it this time, but then I remembered where we were and realized that it wouldn’t be appropriate.

The sauces ranged from green to red and all the colors in-between. I expected the red sauce to taste like tomatoes but it mostly tasted like deliciousness and, unfortunately, mouth burning. Tears formed at the corner of my eyes and I glared at Lore who did not warn me at all, even though he’d seen me dip my bread into that little dish.

Next, I tried the orange sauce. Oddly, it tasted more like marinara sauce, with a little bit of spiciness to it. It was so good that I ate the whole thing and only moved onto the next one when it was finished.

The yellow sauce tasted a bit sweet, almost like yellow bell pepper but it also had a very foreign flavor I couldn’t quite place. But foreign flavors were what I expected when eating a meal on what essentially was an alien world.

The last sauce was green and had a little bit of a milky flavor but also tasted a little like tomatillos and lime. It wasn’t bad, but also very weird.

Once everyone finished, the MC, who hadn’t eaten anything at this point, grinned.

“Next is the main dish which is based on the well-wishes for our newly bonded couple. It’s called, ‘Good Luck in Bonded Love and Marriage.’ This dish will give everyone a small buff to luck. I know, I know. There isn’t a stat for luck but we do have a luck type. While this can’t change your luck type to a better one it will make it so you have a little bit better luck for the next few minutes.”

The scent of braised meat filled the hall. My mouth watered instantly and my stomach which had been filled with bread earlier urged me to immediately eat whatever it was that gave off that scent. The waiter placed the dish in front of me and I had to force myself to take a look at it before I started eating because I could tell that a lot of work went into this. Slices of dark white meat cooked into a gorgeous brown with hints of caramelization sat tantalizingly in the center of the plate. Little stalks of green and orange vegetables were placed around it in a flower-like decoration. Surrounding it all were little white poofy flowers, almost like dandelions, which I didn’t think were edible… at least until I saw Lore pick one up with his fork, place it on one of the pieces of meat, and put the whole thing in his mouth.

When I noticed others doing the same, I tried the meat first. It used a blend of spices that made the slice taste insanely delicious. Since everyone was trying it with the white floofs, I decided to do the same. When I picked up the floof, I realized that it wasn’t a flower like I’d thought, but some kind of food that had been created to look like a flower. The meat and floof reached my tongue, and for every bite, the flavor intensified causing me to involuntarily smile with joy. Whatever this was, I had to find it again. Since the portion size was small, it didn’t take long for the whole dish to vanish, vegetables and all.

I had to stop myself from shaking Lore down for information and just messaged him.

Mia: What kind of meat was this? And what were those white puffy things?

Lorevinel Silvercat: The meat was Jackalope and the white flowers were a sauce designed to go with it. I’m not entirely sure how they made it but it was ingenious. The Crimsondahlia clan managed to find an impressive chef for this celebration.

The NPC waiters took our dishes away and the owner of the bakery from the rat dungeon quest walked on stage and bowed to the Crimsondahlia couple. The MC sauntered up to him.

“As most of you are aware, the Crimsondahlia clan hired the best local baker to make their final artistic statement of sweetness and love.”

The baker smiled and gestured to a spot in front of him where a table appeared. Then he grabbed a giant sculpture from his inventory and placed it on top of the table. Thousands of strands of gold, violet, and crimson came together in a hundred braids, circling in on itself, becoming one forever like a perfect wave. At the bottom of these strands sat a replica of the manor that we were currently in, made so realistically that I couldn’t tell if it was made of clay or cake. Seriously, was this a statue or food? Because it did not look like food.

Then the baker grinned. “This piece is called, ‘Amaranth, Immortal Love.’” He brought out a piece of wood with an indent in the center. Then, surprising everyone, he picked up the completed circle part of the braid, disconnecting it from the rest, and placed it on the base. He then walked over to the couple’s table and sat it in front of them. “Since this is the PPVS, this will never rot or go bad so you can keep it for the rest of your lives.”

There were quiet cheers from all around and congratulatory explanations as the baker went up and cut his pastry.

When the pastry slice landed in front of me I went for my fork. Lore stilled my hand.

Lorevinel Silvercat: Don’t look at me like that. Store it in your inventory. It has a minor speed buff but it will turn into a slow debuff once the speed buff finishes. You can eat it after we’re done here.

Mia: Wouldn’t it be suspicious if I don’t eat it? Like with the dress?

Lorevinel Silvercat: Look around at all the people storing it away for later.

After looking around I did notice a few people’s dishes mysteriously disappearing

Mia: Wait? We could have done that the whole time?

Lorevinel Silvercat: No. It’s impolite to do that for any dishes except desert.

Mia: Is this one of those things you forgot to mention?

He shrugged as I threw the delicious looking dessert in my inventory.

Lorevinel Silvercat: I did mention that it’s impossible to remember everything without actually going through the process.

I nodded and hugged his arm a little tighter. Now that I was used to it, holding Lore’s arm like this was pretty comfortable as if I was meant to be here. Yeah. I needed this night to be over with so I could clear my head and focus. The fact that I was at around 70% of my normal intelligence wasn’t helping.

Surprisingly, it didn’t take long for the servers to hand everyone a pastry and for it to disappear through various means.

When low voices started to fill the room the MC once again walked up and bowed.

“It’s traditional for large clans to hold various contests during Bonded ceremonies as a way to spread joy to their community so others can experience a taste of bonded joy. The Crimsondahlia clan has also arranged for several. The first, being the short poetry contest between our local skilled bards, many of whom you all know. So, now I’d like to invite them all up.”

Lore sent me a look. Huh? What was that about?

He looked down at my arm that was hugging his like an octopus and raised a brow. Oh! Shit. Reluctant, I carefully let go. Wait! No! I was pretending! Pretending to be reluctant.

Lore stood with a flourish and walked up to the stage as if he were the king of artists about to sit on a throne of glory.